Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[bry2000]

There was a long and interesting discussion of DTC on this thread recently and I wanted to share my recent experience with one of the Godfather DTC brands, Warby Parker. A Warby store opened about 5 min walk from my office recently so I wandered in the other day to buy glasses. I found some titanium frames that I really liked. But after the frames and lenses (progressive), the bill was like $550. This is not a crazy number for glasses from a traditional store but from a DTC disrupter? They are no longer cutting out the middle man. They have swallowed the middle man and his margin. I could have purchased branded glasses made by Luxotica for big fashion or gone to a boutique in Phila and purchased some cool **** from a small eyewear brand for the same or maybe less that included retail margin. There really isn't much disruption anymore. It's now just another branded experience. The experience was good - the store is beautiful, the selection vast, staff well trained, but the value...I'm not seeing it like the Warby of 8 years ago where all glasses were $150, lenses included, or whatever the price was at that time.

Hard to say. What was the cost of the frames and what was the cost of progressive lenses? Still seems much cheaper than going to your local boutique. Of course, it depends on the quality and/or brand of the lenses, which are expensive.

Was WP offering progressive lenses 8 years ago? Not sure they were for the $150 all in you reference.

 

[gdl203]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/...yle-subsidy.html?referringSource=articleShare

 

[sushijerk]

There was a long and interesting discussion of DTC on this thread recently and I wanted to share my recent experience with one of the Godfather DTC brands, Warby Parker. A Warby store opened about 5 min walk from my office recently so I wandered in the other day to buy glasses. I found some titanium frames that I really liked. But after the frames and lenses (progressive), the bill was like $550. This is not a crazy number for glasses from a traditional store but from a DTC disrupter? They are no longer cutting out the middle man. They have swallowed the middle man and his margin. I could have purchased branded glasses made by Luxotica for big fashion or gone to a boutique in Phila and purchased some cool **** from a small eyewear brand for the same or maybe less that included retail margin. There really isn't much disruption anymore. It's now just another branded experience. The experience was good - the store is beautiful, the selection vast, staff well trained, but the value...I'm not seeing it like the Warby of 8 years ago where all glasses were $150, lenses included, or whatever the price was at that time.

You can still get frame and lenses for $95 out the door at WP if you're not picky about the styling and don't need high index or progressive lenses. I think there is still a lot of value offered by Warby. Last week I took two pairs of WP sunglasses to the store to update my prescription and got replacement high index lenses on both for $150 total. That's a hard deal to beat.

I went with Mykita for my new frames but that's because I found their metal frame construction really unique. Tbh when it comes to acetate frames I feel like 99% of brands are rehashing the same designs and I've never found a huge quality difference.

 

[smittycl]

You can still get frame and lenses for $95 out the door at WP if you're not picky about the styling and don't need high index or progressive lenses. I think there is still a lot of value offered by Warby. Last week I took two pairs of WP sunglasses to the store to update my prescription and got replacement high index lenses on both for $150 total. That's a hard deal to beat.

I went with Mykita for my new frames but that's because I found their metal frame construction really unique. Tbh when it comes to acetate frames I feel like 99% of brands are rehashing the same designs and I've never found a huge quality difference.

My wife got two sets of readers and sunglasses, all at their normal prices. Decent quality frames and lenses like always. Not really my thing but my kids use WP as well.

 

[smittycl]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/...yle-subsidy.html?referringSource=articleShare

"Balenciaga lifestyles on Banana Republic budgets" pretty much sums it up.

EDIT: I'm fine with it of course even as an urban dweller.

 

[Symphony]

i started seeing them in thrift awhile back, in hand is not good

the piracy thing is also a poor look

working at buffalo exchange, I see a lot of shein come in now. it’s pretty sad but it sells really well.

 

[sushijerk]

working at buffalo exchange, I see a lot of shein come in now. it’s pretty sad but it sells really well.

How does this work? Aren't shein retail prices around or below regular BE prices? Do the people buying just don't know how cheap the brand is?

 

[Symphony]

How does this work? Aren't shein retail prices around or below regular BE prices? Do the people buying just don't know how cheap the brand is?

that’s the weird part. I didn’t know anything about Shein until I started working at Buffalo. We end up selling some of the stuff a little bit under (Dresses mainly) or over retail and it still sells like hotcakes.

it’s really hard for me to not judge people that buy shein. It’s very rarely a classist thing in more so that people just want to get more “bang” for their buck ?

 

[Bryce C]

that’s the weird part. I didn’t know anything about Shein until I started working at Buffalo. We end up selling some of the stuff a little bit under (Dresses mainly) or over retail and it still sells like hotcakes.

it’s really hard for me to not judge people that buy shein. It’s very rarely a classist thing in more so that people just want to get more “bang” for their buck ?

I believe Buffalo also doesn't do itself much justice by buying cheap trendy items to sell in store from questionable vendors. "New Goods" I believe is the term that they coin for such items. These brand new items are blended into the used/second-hand items sold to the store by customers, but the quality is deplorable. I've always wondered why the company would promote sustainability and then contribute to the issue by engaging in such practices.

Maybe I'm also misinformed -- so I'd love to hear input of someone who works at Buffalo.

 

[Symphony]

I believe Buffalo also doesn't do itself much justice by buying cheap trendy items to sell in store from questionable vendors. "New Goods" I believe is the term that they coin for such items. These brand new items are blended into the used/second-hand items sold to the store by customers, but the quality is deplorable. I've always wondered why the company would promote sustainability and then contribute to the issue by engaging in such practices.

Maybe I'm also misinformed -- so I'd love to hear input of someone who works at Buffalo.

no, you’re most definitely right. A lot of the new mercg we get sent in store is fast fashion/wholesale that gets sent in tons of plastic. a lot of stores similar to buffalo do this as well.

it kind of defeats the purpose of sustainability/it’s a work in progress. I’d still always reckon that it’s better to buy something better at a buffalo exchange for a secondhand store, but I think we have a long way to go as a society.

 

[jah786]

You can still get frame and lenses for $95 out the door at WP if you're not picky about the styling and don't need high index or progressive lenses. I think there is still a lot of value offered by Warby. Last week I took two pairs of WP sunglasses to the store to update my prescription and got replacement high index lenses on both for $150 total. That's a hard deal to beat.

I went with Mykita for my new frames but that's because I found their metal frame construction really unique. Tbh when it comes to acetate frames I feel like 99% of brands are rehashing the same designs and I've never found a huge quality difference.

When i first bought Warby in 2011, I didn't have a progressive prescription, so I'm not sure if they offered it then, but I'm guessing they did not. I also did buy the most expensive frame style in there, the Japanese made titanium stuff, rather than the acetate from China. But I still feel like the "value" was missing. If I went to a boutique in Phila I might have paid another $100 in total, which I have no problem with, but my issue in this case was time. Going to the city to try on things would take half a day. Warby was close and convenient and I wanted to be able to try on the glasses as fit is very important.

 

[bry2000]

When i first bought Warby in 2011, I didn't have a progressive prescription, so I'm not sure if they offered it then, but I'm guessing they did not. I also did buy the most expensive frame style in there, the Japanese made titanium stuff, rather than the acetate from China. But I still feel like the "value" was missing. If I went to a boutique in Phila I might have paid another $100 in total, which I have no problem with, but my issue in this case was time. Going to the city to try on things would take half a day. Warby was close and convenient and I wanted to be able to try on the glasses as fit is very important.

I would be willing to bet if you were to visit a good optical store in Center City, you would have a hard time walking out for less than $1,000 all in for frames and progressive lenses.

 

[Bryce C]

no, you’re most definitely right. A lot of the new mercg we get sent in store is fast fashion/wholesale that gets sent in tons of plastic. a lot of stores similar to buffalo do this as well.

it kind of defeats the purpose of sustainability/it’s a work in progress. I’d still always reckon that it’s better to buy something better at a buffalo exchange for a secondhand store, but I think we have a long way to go as a society.

Fully agreed. It's the same issue we're having with the food industry. It is constantly cheaper to buy something that traveled half of the world, rather than farms in the region. Hyper-speed logistic companies (i.e Amazon) and the need for instant satisfaction have taken a monopoly in how we operate.

At the end of the day Buffalo is a for-profit company I wish that they made more things public -- such as their yearly donations for charity. I'm not too sure if the tokens are always going to what they promote without such action.

 

[jah786]

I would be willing to bet if you were to visit a good optical store in Center City, you would have a hard time walking out for less than $1,000 all in for frames and progressive lenses.

you very well could be correct which would change my gripe significantly if true. There is an optical shop in center city called EYEsite that sells really cool stuff, the owner Gene goes to the Paris eye show every year to source. But I haven't been there in awhile, maybe 5 years, so my sense of prices could be way off.

 

[cb200]

Zenga goes "public"

Italy's Zegna to list in the U.S. with $3.2 bln SPAC deal

Italian luxury group Ermenegildo Zegna will list in New York by combining with a U.S. investment vehicle, giving the menswear company an enterprise value of $3.2 billion and helping it expand in Asia and the United States.

www.reuters.com

Good coverage (as usual for the site) of the SPAC nature of the deal from the fashion law.

Ermenegildo Zegna Group Announces Plans to Go Public By Way of $3.2 Billion SPAC - The Fashion Law

Ermenegildo Zegna Group will go public on the New York Stock Exchange later this year by way of a merger with Investindustrial Acquisition Corp., a

www.thefashionlaw.com